Now and Forever
by BrilliantlyHermione
Summary: Hermione's world is nothing but O.W.L.'s until a blue box shows up ends her life as she knows it. She instantly becomes his companion, and they are blinded in each other's presence. She can't imagine a life without him anymore...but in the Doctor's time, how long until it's over?
1. Defying Gravity

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." Hermione said, slower this time, so Ron could better hear her pronunciation.

"One more time."

"Seriously?"

"Just...once more, please!"

"Win-guard-e-um Lev-e-oh-saw." She enunciated each syllable.

"Okay, got it. I got it this time." He raised his wand over the quill they were practicing with.

It was early Saturday morning, before dawn even. Hermione and Ron were the only two in the common room, and Hermione was attempting to tutor Ron in charms. Their end-of-year exams were coming up in less than two weeks, and, being Ron, he'd saved all his studying for the last minute.

Ron cleared his throat. "_Wingardium...Leviosa!_" He swished and flicked his wand over the quill, but it only quivered, raising a few inches. Ron's eyes lit up, but as soon as they did, the quill fell back onto the floor between them, stock-still. "Dammit!" He tossed his wand down and threw his arms up in surrender.

"It's getting better! You've almost got it!" Hermione encouraged, but Ron looked dejected.

"I'm hopeless. We learned this _first year_, and _two years later_ I still can't do it!"

"Don't give up yet! Just focus more. Try again."

"No."

"Humour me."

Ron sighed and picked up his wand again. He exhaled forcefully, glaring at the quill with murderous eyes. He poised his wand... "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The quill trembled, and raised a few inches off the ground. Ron continued to glower at it, and several seconds later, it was a few feet off the ground. It remained there until he broke his concentration, letting it fall back onto the floor. "Ha!" He called out triumphantly.

Hermione smiled. "Nice! Want to try it one more time?"

Ron shook his head. "I'm going to take a nap. See you, Hermione...you're a miracle worker, you know that?" He yawned as he stood up, and Hermione secretly beamed with pride.

"I know. See you later,"

Once he had disappeared up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, Hermione stood up and stretched. She wasn't wearing her school robes, but a pair of sweat pants she'd brought with her to Hogwarts from a muggle shop back home, and a Gryffindor tee shirt from last year that was too small for her. She had on black converse, which she'd also brought to Hogwarts from a muggle shop she'd been to over the summer, and her bushy hair was pulled back into a ponytail that crooked to the right. However sloppy, she decided to go down to the Great Hall and get some breakfast. It's not like she'd run into very many people at this hour, anyway.

As she descended the steps to the Great Hall, she found it to be deserted, so she made her way to the grounds instead. Maybe Hagrid was awake, she thought.

The sun was just starting to come up, peaking out over the horizon and just barely lighting her way.

On her way down the cobblestone path that led to Hagrid's hut, she felt a strong wind start to blow from behind her. It was sudden and noisy, but nothing in front of her was moving...she only felt the wind on her back and saw it kick up the leaves directly under her.

When she turned around, she jumped back and lost her footing, slipping on the cobblestones and landing on her back. She propped herself up just in time to see a large, wooden, blue box materialising in front of her. She blinked a few times, thinking she must have hit her head when she fell, but the more she blinked, the clearer the image became. After several more seconds, the wind had stopped, and there stood before her a blue police box.

One of the doors gave a low creak and swung inwards to reveal a man, who stepped out looking confused.

"Well that's not where I meant to go…" He began muttering to himself. He was wearing a brown suit jacket with white pin stripes down the front and matching pants. Flowing all the way to the ground was a light brown trench coat that looked dreadfully heavy. He had a pile of messy, vast brown hair that stuck up in the front. He was pacing back in forth in front of the doors of the blue box, talking to himself. Hermione was still on the ground, staring up in awe. It took him a while longer to notice her, but when he did his face brightened. "Oh, hello there!" All of a sudden, the brightness on his face vanished, replaced with animate perplexity...as if _he_ wasn't the one who'd just appeared out of thin air. "What are you doing down there?"

"I...fell over."

"Really?" He sounded amazed, like the idea was awe-inspiring. His eyes even widened. "Why?"

"Well, I...I didn't do it on purpose..." She spoke slowly, not sure quite how to react to the man.

"Oh, of course not! I mean, people don't just _fall over_." He started laughing, like the idea was hilarious. "I mean, it's not like you're walking along and you think, _I think I'll fall over! Yeah!_ And then you fall over. I mean _that_'sridiculous."

"I...quite agree, yes..." She said mystically, though she wasn't entirely sure with what she'd just agreed.

"And yet you fell over! Funny how these things work out, isn't it?"

"I already told you, I didn't fall over on purpose." She hoisted herself up and brushed herself off.

"Oh, right. 'Cause people don't do that, yeah." He nodded furiously, as if everything made sense now, and put his hands in his trench coat pocket.

She was silent for a moment, staring at him in disbelief. _I'm dreaming_, she thought. _I fell asleep after helping Ron study and now I'm dreaming._

"Where are we?" He asked suddenly, lifting a hand to his chin and stroking a non-existent beard.

"Er…Hogwarts." She answered slowly. He stared at her blankly for a few seconds before he burst out laughing. She furrowed her brows together. "_Hogwarts_?" He asked incredulously through valley-girl-esk giggles.

"Yes, Hogwarts!"

"Oh, what a horrid name, how unfortunate...almost as bad as Pigfarts!"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, never mind." He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "So _when_ are we, then?" He asked her. She raised a sceptical eyebrow as she told him the date and he nodded.

"Who _are_ you?" She asked just as he asked what Hogwarts was.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Hogwarts is a school," They both answered in unison. A bright grin appeared on his face. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Hermione asked first.

"The Doctor? Doctor...what?"

"The Doctor, that's all."

"Er, well what's your actual name?" She asked, curious as much as sceptical.

"The Doctor. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have _said_ it after you asked who I was, duh," he replied easily, studying Hermione with a curious expression.

"Well...you're first name can't possibly be 'the'." She challenged

"Well aren't you nosy." He accused in a mocking tone before speaking again. "But I suppose if you must know, technically my name is John Smith."

"Doctor John Smith, then?" She clarified, realizing that none of this told her who he really was anyway.

He seemed to be waiting for her say that so he could reply triumphantly, "Nope, just the Doctor! Didn't I already say that?"

Hermione watched with a slightly open mouth as he stood rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. When she didn't speak, he did.

"What's _your_ name?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Hermione..." His voiced trailed off, and his eyes glazed over looking into the distance. Then he snapped back and his eyes widened, gawking at her. "Hermione! Of course you are!"

"Of course I am..." She mocked his excitement, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"So this place is a school? Boarding school?" He changed the subject.

"School of...magic," She answered after a second of hesitation. "How did you get here if you didn't know that? It's protected."

"TARDIS can get me anywhere, protected or not. Magic? Like, _magic_ _magic_?" He alleged, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What other kind of magic is there?"

"Oh, loads. I've never met a witch before. Or at least not one that goes to a school." He was leaning up against the side of the blue box he had called a TARDIS.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She finally asked.

"That I've never met a witch who isn't...you know, on a broomstick, or with a wart on her nose, or, you know...green. Or all three," he added thoughtfully, nodding meaningfully.

"Oh." Her confusion was increasing with every word he spoke.

"So if you're a witch, can you prove it to me?" He asked suddenly. She felt her wand in her pocket. Her first instinct was to tell him no, but then she shrugged. She never missed a chance to show off.

"I guess." She took her wand out of her pocket and aimed it at a leaf on the ground. "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" She incanted as she swished and flicked her wand toward the leaf. It immediately rose from the ground and floated gracefully upward until it was level with their faces.

"Oh, come _on!_ Cut the crap, _seriously_? That's impossible, so what is this, some kind of trick?"

She looked at him, but kept her concentration so the leaf would remain hovering between them. She wanted to point out that _he _was the one who'd just materialized out of thin air in a blue police box, and that he'd shown up on grounds protected with enchantments...but _she _was impossible?

"You're joking right?" She let the leaf flutter back to the ground, and put her wand back in her pocket.

"You can't just..._defy_ gravity, it doesn't work like that!"

"What doesn't?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Life! Well, life on Earth, anyway...well, unless you can fly, I suppose..."

His aura of carefreeness suddenly got on her nerves and she put her hands on her hips. "You can't be serious! You _literally_ just appeared out of nothing onto the grounds of school of magic that is protected by enchantments that _should've _stopped you from getting in, and you're telling me that what _I _just did, a simple levitation spell, _that's_ what's impossible here?"

He studied her with suddenly narrowed eyes and reached into his inside pocket, digging around before taking out what looked like a small wand. He pressed a button on the top and the device made a low humming sound as he pointed and scanned Hermione with it.

"And _now_ what do you think you're doing?" She snapped, whipping her wand out and pointing it at him in defence. He glanced at the wand and smiled, twirling the object between his fingers before replacing it in his pocket.

"Looks like it _is_ possible…" His voice trailed off slightly, and she raised a questioning eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and got the device back out. "Sonic screwdriver. Sort of...scanning device, if you will. Like a computer. Do you have computers at Wizarding School?"

"I know what a computer is." She replied simply.

"Oh alright, well, anyway, this screwdriver basically tells me everything I need to know about whatever I scan."

"So you're telling me you have a genius screwdriver that carries all the answers?" She crossed her arms across her chest and shot cynicism at him with her eyes.

"Mhm! It also opens doors," He nodded impressively, as though she should be astounded by the fact.

"Okay."

He took up pacing again, back and forth in front of the 'TARDIS'. He started mumbling, more to himself than her. "Hogwarts, _Hogwarts_, I've never heard of it, it doesn't ring a bell… but what would have drawn me _here_? If it's a school of magic...tell me, Hermione, and be honest, 'cause it's important… have you ever travelled through space and time?" He raised an eyebrow as she gawked at him. He was completely serious. She put a hand to the gold chain around her neck and fiddled with the end of it. She knew she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the time-turner, and she wasn't about to betray McGonagall's trust.

Instead, she burst into a fit of fake laughter. "_What_?" She demanded, as though the idea were ridiculous.

"Oh, don't play games with me. I saw the way your hand shot to your neck. What's your secret then? Vortex manipulator?

"I'm sorry?" She asked, now thoroughly confused. He took an uninvited step toward her and picked the necklace up off her chest. She backed away slightly, but he took no notice.

"Yes, it's got to be...vortex manipulator, with a perception filter so as to look like a necklace...it _is_ pretty brilliant, I'll give you that..."

She pried his hand off the time-turner and took several steps away from him. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, I know you know I know, so just tell me." He crossed his arms stubbornly. "Why don't you ask your genius screwdriver?" She leered.

"Oh, excellent idea!" He grinned, as though the idea hadn't occurred to him before, and took out of his pocket the 'sonic screwdriver'. It made that weird buzzing noise again as he pointed it at her neck.

After several seconds, he brought the sonic screwdriver to his face and examined it carefully.

"Ooh, fascinating..." He sounded mesmerised, staring at the sonic screwdriver like a mad scientist. "Not a vortex manipulator, then...but a..._time-turner_?" He replaced the sonic screwdriver in his pocket and stared at her expectantly.

"Okay, that's really disturbing."

"So tell me, then...what is it that you use this timey-wimey necklace for?"

"To _defy gravity_..." She mocked, not wanting to disclose the real reason.

"Oh, my God, just tell me!" He sounded like a teenage girl begging her best friend to tell her who she had a crush on.

"Alright, fine… I travel a few hours back every day, so I can take multiple lessons at once." She admitted with a light shrug.

"Oh, interesting, yes– it seems something about that must have attracted my TARDIS, that'd be the only explanation…cause you see this isn't where I meant to end up, but your timey-wimey necklace must have _drawn_ me here..."

"_What_ are you on about?" Hermione stared at him blankly. He smiled, a brilliant, radiant smile, and for a split second forgot what he was supposed to be answering.

"TARDIS, that's T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. I travel through space and time, and this here," He gave the side of the 'TARDIS' an affectionate stroke. "Is my spaceship. Did I mention I'm an alien?"

"Oh, please. That's impossible."

"So is defying gravity, but you did that a few minutes ago. So is simply materializing out of thin air," he added quickly before she could interject. "But I did that several minutes ago, too."

She gaped at him, and he studied her, for several awkward seconds before he suddenly inhaled sharply.

"Sorry, did you say that you travel back only hours to take...multiple classes at once?" He inquired, pointing to the time-turner around her neck. She nodded. "You're going back into your own personal time line, you can't do that!"

"Just like I can't defy gravity?" She smirked, surprised at how smoothly all the snide remarks were rolling off her tongue. _It's not like it really matters, I'm only dreaming, anyway_, she thought to herself.

"Ha, ha. No, seriously, though you can't."

"No, seriously, though, I can."

He exhaled, scowling and furrowing his brows together. He looked like he was pouting, but she was too taken aback by everything to say anything.

"Okay, fun's over. Who are you?" She tried again, but he only looked exasperated.

"I told you, I'm the Doctor!"

"Right. Well, you said that, and then you said John Smith, and then you said an alien, so _excuse_ me if I'm having a little difficulty keeping everything straight."

He opened his mouth to reply, but then shut it again, looking at her as though she were a tricky math problem he couldn't find the solution to. "Huh." He finally said. "Who are _you_ then, Miss Granger?"

"Me? I told you, I'm Hermione Granger. Human. Witch. Top of my class," she added, simpering conceitedly. He stared at her for a moment before replying.

"Yeah? Well I'm the Lord of Time," He challenged, as though sizing her up.

"So then, Mr. Alien-Doctor-John-Smith-Lord-of-Time-with-a-genius-screwdriver, you would _know_, that I _can_ travel back in time to fit in more lessons."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you _shouldn't_."

"Why not? Because you say so?" She smirked, placing one hand on her hip.

"Do you need another reason?"

"Well if _I _shouldn't time travel, even just a few hours back, then _you_ shouldn't travel through space and time either. That is what you said, isn't it? You travel through space and time?"

"I did say that, didn't I?" He said, shifting his position against the TARDIS.

"All inside that little blue box?"

"Yep." He stroked the side of the box again and Hermione's eyebrows rose.

"Time..._and_ space. Twice as dangerous. Amounting to twice the risk."

"Twice the fun!" They stood in silence, observing one and other. He glanced around and let his eyes fall to the ground. "And twice the heartbreak..."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and waited for him to say something else, but he seemed to have said the last bit unconsciously, like he meant to think it and said it out loud instead.

"Is something wrong?" She finally asked.

"Sorry?" He asked perplexedly, returning his eyes to her.

"You...sort of just said you were heartbroken." She crossed her arms.

"Sorry?" He repeated. He crossed his arms in perfect imitation of her. Normally, she would've left it that and changed the subject, but since she was only dreaming and would likely wake up any second anyway, she tried again.

"You look upset."

He furrowed his brow and looked down at himself. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"No, not your _body_, your _face_. Your _eyes_. They look sad."

"Oh, _now_ you're acting nice." He said with a playful grin. Hermione chose to ignore this.

"What's wrong?"

"I lost someone. Friend of mine." He said plainly.

"I'm sorry." She nodded slowly. He sighed and looked out at the horizon, at the mountains surrounding the castle. The sun was almost completely up, and a few orange and pink streaks in the sky remained from the sunrise.

"Me too." They were quiet for another minute until he spoke again, all trace of sadness from his voice gone now. "Anyway, I best be off! It was nice see- I mean, meeting you." He turned to enter the TARDIS again, but then turned around and poked his head out of the doors. "Oh, and... No more of that." He pointed to the gold chain around her neck and her fingers encased the hourglass as her eyes narrowed. "Don't go back in your own personal time line, you can't do that. Don't ask why, just don't do it. Understand?" Hermione let a small smile creep up around her lips, and she nodded. "Defying gravity, on the other hand," he began as he started to shut the doors on himself. "_That_ you can do as much as you like. In fact, I encourage it!" He gave her a final grin before shutting the doors behind him. His ship began dematerialising, just as it had materialised, kicking up a somewhat strong breeze just around its perimeter and making an odd noise somewhere between an elephant's cry and the howling of the wind. She blinked, and it was completely gone, leaving her standing in front of nothing but the grounds.


	2. Andromeda Way

SIXTH MONTHS LATER

Hermione combed through the books in the library, absentmindedly reading the titles

and running her hand across the spines. She wandered down a few isles before making her way to the history section. She stopped in front of _Hogwarts, A History_, but didn't want to read from a book she'd already memorised, so kept walking. A few shelves down from _Hogwarts, A History_, she saw one entitled _The Founders of Hogwarts: Personal Accounts_. She'd never seen it before, at least never taken notice of it. Intrigued, she pulled it off the shelf, made her way to an empty table, and started reading.

_ "An appearance by two strange travellers left all four founders dumbfounded. Below are the accounts of all four of the founders, each with drastically different perspectives. No name was ever mentioned of the girl, and the only name provided of the man was 'Doctor.' "_

Hermione's eyes shot up when she read the word _Doctor_. _Doctor, _she wondered, _as in...?_ She took a deep breath and continued reading.

_ "No other accounts of these two people exist in known documents written by the founders, and it is unclear the relationship between the two travellers. Slytherin seemed to think they were married, though Ravenclaw suggested they were mere 'companions' with a spark for something more. Hufflepuff had no mention of a hypothesized relationship, and it appears the two rescued her, though it is unclear from what they rescued her. Gryffindor appears to have been in love with the girl, but no account of a return was ever written by any of the four."_

The Doctor hadn't been with a girl when she'd met him...she wondered if he'd found someone now, and had taken her to back in time to the Founders' Era. She narrowed her eyes at the idea, wondering if he would ever come back to Hogwarts, or if he even remembered her. She looked back down at the page, itching to read more, to see what the founders said about them. She checked her watch; it was the time she normally went to charms, but how could she go to class now? She looked back down at the page, begging her to read on. She fingered the time-turner around her neck. _Always room for charms later_, she thought. Despite the Doctor's warnings against the time-turner, she'd continued to use it. _Screw charms_, she thought, and kept reading.

_Godric Gryffindor_

_I know nothing of the girl we've encountered, for both she and her friend came and went like the wind. A most extraordinary girl she was...with her ivory skin and that beautiful green dress. I crave to know more of her, and to see more of her, but I fear such a curiosity shall never be satisfied. I hold out hope that one day she shall return and I may be reunited. Such a fierce girl, yet such a soft, touchable face...the face of innocence, with exquisite features. She embodied a beauty indescribable by the negligence of words. She had a confidence about her that was most alluring, and she proved to be a most valiant and heroic young lady. Such a quality alone is more intoxicating than any handsomeness, yet the enticing young lady I write of today conveyed both with such compelling attractiveness that to not desire her return feels an abomination._

_Helga Hufflepuff_

_I know not who she was, or where she was from, only that without the likes of her I'd be dead. She saved me, and her Doctor friend tended my wounds while Rowena paced the room and raved methods in which to rid the world of Salazar. I should love for the opportunity to see them again, if only once, if only to thank them for their kind services, but I fear that return, they shan't, and I shall be subject to a lifetime of wondering..._

_Rowena Ravelclaw_

_A beautiful girl and a most handsome man who disclosed only the name of Doctor, two of the most inexplicable people I've met, and yet they are reason I remain here, able to inscribe these words. They must have been companions, at the very least, though the way she looked at him I deem something more. I do wonder what has become of them now, but a return, I think is unlikely._

_Salazar Slytherin_

_A most unwelcome visit by a girl and her husband has left me reeling and fuming. By a stroke of luck, she managed to outsmart me. I hope only for another encounter, so as to finish the girl off and have a man-to-man fight with her husband._

When she'd finished reading, she exhaled in amazement.

"So I _wasn't_ dreaming..." She whispered to herself.

"Dreaming? About what?" Someone said from across the table. She jumped at the voice, not having realized anyone was there.

"God, how long have you been there?"

"Not too long. Not that you'd have noticed, you were engrossed in that old book with tiny print," Ginny remarked snidely, turning a page in her book. "So what were you dreaming about?"

"Oh...nothing, just..." She looked down at the page again, then shut the book. "I have to go to charms. I'll see you at dinner," she said hurriedly. She replaced the book on the shelf and practically ran out of the library, her heart racing.

So he _was_ real. For the past few months, she'd battled with the idea that nothing she remembered from that fateful morning was real. But what she just read provided proof - concrete, irrefutable proof - that everything that happened _really_ happened, that the crazy Doctor who claimed to be an alien and had a screwdriver that held all the answers, who allegedly travelled through space and time in a tiny blue box, he was _real_.

SIX MONTHS AFTER THAT

"So do you want to tell my why you're acting so weird?" Ginny asked.

"What do you mean? I'm not acting weird," Hermione responded, avoiding her gaze.

"Well, not all the time, but come on. I'm your best friend, and I notice these things. Sneaking off to the library, obsessive reading, even more than usual, and you've been looking so preoccupied. And don't tell me it's just classes," She added when Hermione opened her mouth to say just that. "Because I know you're school-stressed face, and it's not this."

Hermione was silent for a while. She and Ginny were taking a walk on the grounds, circling around the black lake. It was early in the morning, probably around the time of day the Doctor had shown up one year ago.

"Well...okay." Hermione said, looking at her friend. "Let's sit down, then. It's sort of an...odd story."

They sat under a tree right by the lake, leaning up against its trunk, and Hermione started to tell Ginny everything. She told her about how a blue box had appeared out of nowhere, how she thought she was hallucinating, and how the Doctor hadn't believed her when she said she was a witch.

"Wait, so you mean that _after_ he materialised out of thin air in a blue police box that went out of fashion _ages _ago, _he _told _you_ that a _levitation spell _was impossible?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"That was my reaction too! He was acting so _weird_, like everything around him was preposterous and awe-inspiring..."

"Yet _he _was the one who claimed to be an alien, with a police box for a spaceship? And what did he call himself, the God of Time?"

"Lord of Time, actually..." Hermione speculated, looking at Ginny. She was relieved that Ginny hadn't called her crazy, but also suspicious that she was secretly thinking her story was ridiculous.

"Right, with a magical screwdriver?"

"He called it sonic. Apparently it contains all the answers."

"To what?"

"I don't know, life? He said he could use it to scan whatever he wanted, and it would just...give him all the information he needed. It can also apparently open doors," A smile was creeping up on her face. She thought of using the computer analogy to explain the screwdriver, but then remembered Ginny was a pureblood and wouldn't know what a computer was.

"That is ridiculous." Ginny said flatly, staring at Hermione.

"Well...the thing is...it _is _ridiculous, but he scanned my necklace with it...the time-turner, remember? And then he read from the screwdriver or something, and he knew all about it all of a sudden."

Ginny was quiet for a moment, pursing her lips and staring out at the lake.

"And then he just...left?"

Hermione nodded. "He was acting like he _knew_ me...before he left, he said 'nice seeing, I mean meeting you.' What is that supposed to mean?" She looked at Ginny, who shrugged and looked over at her. "And then he got back into his spaceship and disappeared. Literally. He just faded away."

"But that doesn't make any _sense_!" Ginny speculated.

"I _know_..." Hermione returned, exasperated.

"Have you told Harry and Ron?"

"No..."

"Have you told _Viktor_?" She asked teasingly.

"No, why would I?" Hermione's eyebrows knitted together at the sudden subject change.

Ginny shrugged. "Just curious. So have you two done it yet?" She asked casually, lifting her hand and inspecting her fingernails.

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped, aghast. Ginny laughed and rolled her eyes at her.

"I'm only joking." She said, allowing her hand to fall back to her side. Hermione nodded, looking away uncomfortably. Ginny smirked, and added, "Kind of."

Hermione ignored her and brought the subject back to the Doctor. "I mean, it's not like I spend every single moment thinking about him, I just want some answers," she reasoned.

"Uh huh. Sure." Ginny said satirically.

"I'm serious!" Hermione countered. "Whenever there's nothing else to think of, my mind just...slips to him." She waved her hands around in front of her, as though that would explain everything.

Ginny said nothing. Hermione let her hands fall into her lap and looked out over the black lake. She felt Ginny turn toward her and felt her eyes bore into her.

"I know. I believe you."

It was impossible to tell if that she meant it in a sarcastic way, saying she believed that she hadn't spent every moment obsessed with the encounter, or if she meant that she believed the story.

Hermione decided to deem it was the latter.

ONE YEAR AFTER THAT

It was late at night, and Hermione and Ginny were the only two girls still awake in their dormitory. They were both in Ginny's bed, hiding under the blankets with Hermione's wand tip sitting illuminated between them, conversing in low tones so as not to wake any of the other girls.

"How long do you reckon we can get away with it?" Ginny asked, referring, of course, to Dumbledore's Army and how long they could hide it from Umbridge.

"Who knows," Hermione replied, shrugging lightly. "Umbridge is such an idiot anyway, _if_ she finds out, it'll take her ages."

Ginny grinned and stifled her laugh behind her hand.

"Anyway," Hermione said, changing the subject. "How are things with Michael?"

"Michael..." Ginny licked her lips, pondering an answer. "We're alright, I guess. Average, I suppose. What about you? Still keeping in touch with Viktor?"

Hermione shrugged. "A letter here and there, but not really."

"Anyone else, then?"

Unexpectedly, Hermione's mind went to her third year, that fateful day when that crazy "Doctor" had materialised on the grounds and pestered her about the time-turner. Not because she thought of him as crush-worthy, of course, but because...well, for no real reason at all.

"No..." She bit her lip, looking to the side. "I sort of miss Viktor, to be honest, so no one else, really."

They were both silent for a few moments, looking at each other. Hermione had put her wand under the sheet so the light wouldn't be so bright, so it was a dim sort of yellow light around them. It reflected off Ginny's red hair and made it look golden-blonde, and shined on her pale skin, turning it a darker shade.

"I know what you're thinking about." Ginny broke the silence. Hermione raised her eyebrows, inviting her to answer. "That man. The one who just showed up randomly and then disappeared. Literally,"

Hermione smiled. "I was actually thinking that this light makes your hair look really pretty," She returned. Ginny smirked.

"Right."

SIXTH YEAR

It had been three years since Hermione's encounter with the Doctor. She was in the midst of her sixth year at Hogwarts, but not much had changed. She sat on the grounds, up against a tree, deeply immersed in one of her textbooks, per usual. She jumped rather badly when someone tapped her shoulder.

"Remember me?" A man stood above her, smiling brightly. He was wearing a long brown trench coat over a brown suit with white pin stripes. She jumped up and slammed her book shut, staring at him. He was standing right in front of her. After all that time, there he was, just...standing there.

_This isn't real_, she thought. But it _was _real; she knew it was.

"It is possible to forget a man like you?" She asked, facing him.

"Well, since you asked, no. It's not. How long was I gone, exactly?" He asked. She'd just opened her mouth to answer him but he held his hands out and shook his head. "No, wait! Let me guess. Let's see..." He examined her height and hair length. "Well, you're taller. And older looking. So I had to have been gone for some time. Maybe four years. No, no, no...three. No! Four. Yeah, four." He placed his hands on his hips and grinned at her triumphantly.

"Actually, three. Why? Did you _lose track of time_?" She mocked, tossing her hair from her eyes.

"You could say that, but...I didn't even mean to end up here. _Again_. Why am I always drawn here? Oi!" He suddenly added, and Hermione raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"Yes?" She asked sweetly.

"You continued to use that timey-wimey necklace and travel back in your own personal timeline, didn't you?" He pointed at her with a childish scowl, like he was accusing her of stealing his ice cream.

"So what if I did?" She asked feverishly. "I hardly think it's any of _your_ business."

"Actually, young lady, it is my business. I'm the lord of time. And I _told_ you not to use it. You said you wouldn't, either, remember that?!" He still sounded so unbelievably immature; she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"I did _not._ You told me not to use the time-turner anymore, but all I said was that I understood. Never once did I say I would listen to you." This seemed to leave him speechless, and he just stood there in front of her. She was smirking. He slowly moved his arms in toward him and crossed them over his chest.

"Humph!" He grumbled, sticking his nose in the air like a four year old that hadn't gotten his way.

"What?" She asked, unable to keep the bemused expression off her face.

"Oh, nothing."

"Would you please act your age? What are you doing here?"

"I _am_ acting my age, how do _you_ know what a 900 year old should act like?" He challenged. "And I'm not doing anything here. You dragged me here." He accused.

"I did not!"

"Did so!"

"How do you figure?" She asked, now crossing her arms in a rather immature fashion to mimic his.

"With that stupid timey-wimey necklace. Something about it is wrong, and the TARDIS doesn't like it, so she ends up here."

"Okay, fine, but I stopped using it thee years ago, after my third year was finished. I never used it after that." She told him. His expression gradually went back to normal. "But since we're talking about what brought you here, you can't just _show up _somewhere the way you did and then _leave_." She crossed her arms.

"What way?" He seemed genuinely bewildered. She rolled her eyes.

"You _literally_ materialized out of thin air, told me you were an alien, said that box was a spaceship in which you travel through space and time, you claimed to have a magical screwdriver that can open doors and answer all your life questions, and you said you were the lord of time and then proceeded to tell me what to do. Then you just got back into your out-of-date police box and _faded away_. And through all that, you had the nerve to tell _me_ that my simple _levitation spell_ was what was impossible." Everything rolled off her tongue so smoothly, and she drew satisfaction out of the slight O his mouth had formed.

"Well, when you put it like _that_..."

"Did you not think for one second how any of that would effect me?" She demanded. She knew he hadn't, but she could tell now that he didn't want to admit it. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "No, of course you didn't," she answered for him. "Because you're crazy and impossible and impulsive and..." At a loss for words, she crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Sorry. I didn't think...I mean...how about I make it up to you?" He suggested, sliding his hands into his trench-coat pockets. He was wearing the exact same suit as three years ago. Absolutely nothing about him had changed, from his clothes to his childlike expression to his perplexed, fascinated tone of voice.

When she didn't answer, he took that as an invitation. "Would you like to go somewhere?" He asked her.

"What?" She shot back, caught off guard.

"I want to take you somewhere. I admire your gut."

"My gut?"

"Yeah. You're so...feisty, and vivacious." He said with a wink. She rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm not." She crossed her arms again. He pursed his lips.

"_Yes_ you are. You're _sassy_."

"_You're_ sassy!" She disputed defensively.

"Do you want to go somewhere, or what?"

"Where?" She challenged.

"Where ever you like." He enunciated each syllable and reached behind him, pushing the TARDIS doors open. She eyed him rather suspiciously before taking a cautious step inside. When she did, her jaw dropped. She heard him come in behind her, and, determined not to give him the satisfaction of her awe; she turned around to face him with a completely neutral expression.

"Undetectable extension charm?" She asked unimpressively.

"What? No, this is...how it's built. I'm not a wizard." His smile brightened. "So, where would you like to go, then, Mione? Future or past?"

"Er...forward." She was captivated and hesitant at the same time, but also rather pleased at the nickname.

"Lovely!" He began working the controls until the box gave a lurch and she grabbed onto a handle nearby to keep herself from falling. He chuckled softly at her reaction. "Allons-y!" He grinned and ran to the doors. She followed him. He pulled the doors open, but didn't step out. When she rushed to the edge and saw what was on the other side, she gasped and jumped back, her heart summersaulting in her chest. They hadn't landed, but rather were floating around in space. Asteroids the size of cars flew past them, and she could see planets in the far distance. Right next to them was a large planet that looked around the size of Earth, but was a whole lot redder.

She was speechless.

"Where _are_ we?"

"End of the Earth."

"Then why aren't we _on_ Earth?" She asked, beyond confused at the science of this all.

"You tell me." He pointed to the planet next to them, the red one that she'd assumed was Mars. "I hear you're somewhat of a genius."

"Well...we must be almost 8 billion years into the future."

"Seven and a half." He corrected. They both were standing at the edge of the doors, staring out at the site before them.

"Right...well, the luminosity of the sun increased, which increased the amount of solar radiation that reached the Earth, which increased Earth's temperature...three and a half billion years ago all life on Earth would've been wiped out due to the increase in temperatures, and all the water on Earth would've evaporated."

"Keep going." He encouraged.

"Well...seven and half billion years in the future...so, I guess, now...the sun will consume the Earth. Oh my god, is that what's happening right now?" She asked, staring out at the Earth below them.

"Yeah. Which is why we aren't down there, on Earth, because it's practically already engulfed in flames. Any minute now, it'll fly into the sun and burn up. Gone forever." The TARDIS flew back and to the left, to reveal the sun...they had to have been light years further away than it seemed, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to see the whole thing.

"Then why aren't we burning up right here?" She asked.

"Because the TARDIS is magical, to put it shortly." He turned to watch her reaction as the events before them played out, like they were a computer animation in a Stephan Hawking documentary.

The sun swallowed the Earth. It was such a simple thing that happened, and yet it was the most complicated, ridiculous thing she'd ever seen.

"And... That's that." He said, pulling her back into the TARDIS and shutting the doors.

"That's _it_?"

"For the earth, yes. But would you like to see something even more remarkable?"

"I...yeah..." She stumbled over her words, at a loss for what to say.

"Brilliant, let's be off then! We're not going far, just a few billion years into the past." He shut the doors and ran back up to the central console. When her eyebrows rose in surprise, he clarified.

"Well, it'll still be billions of years into _your_ future, but from where we are right now, we are going three and a half billion years into the past."

"So, essentially four billion years into the future?" She asked, trying to wrap her head around all this.

"Well, _your_ future, yes. But 'the' future is relative. We're technically going three and a half billion years into the past, since right now we're at seven and a half billion years into your future and we're going to only four billion years in your future-"

"Okay, okay," she interrupted him, having heard enough.

"Allons-y, then!" He slammed down the controls and they were off.

This time, they landed, and before he opened the doors for them, he stared at her expectantly. "Any guesses?" He asked.

"None at all." She admitted. He rolled his eyes.

"Some genius you are." He teased, running for the doors. "We're on Earth. But this time, it's not on fire, so we can safely be on it."

"Wait, hang on though, if we're four billion years into my future, all life on Earth has gone extinct due to the climate change. It's too hot, even all the oceans evaporated. We can't go out there, even if it's not on fire, it's too hot for life."

"Ah, but see, that's where you're wrong." He grinned and she waited for him to continue. "The TARDIS provides a sort of protection. Obviously she can't stop us from burning up if we land in a pit of fire, but here, she can provide temperature regulations, so we won't even notice! It'll just feel like warm August air. It's like what happened when we watched the earth get eaten by the sun. Remember, how we just hung out of the TARDIS? But we could still breathe, because of the TARDIS protection. Otherwise we would've suffocated." He explained carefully, and she finally began to understand some of his words.

"I didn't think about how we were breathing..."

"Well, now you know!" He yanked the doors open and they both ran outside. He was right; it didn't feel very warm at all.

It was dark, like it was nighttime, but the light of the stars in the sky lit everything up and gave it a glowing quality. It was eerie, but it was also, in a strange way, beautiful.

They were standing in front of a trail that obviously hadn't been trekked in years. It zigzagged through a dead-beat forest and looked like it led all the way to the horizon, where a mountainous silhouette was all she could see.

"Up for a little hike?" He asked. She stared around her, speechless, unable to think, even. This place looked nothing like earth, especially the view of the sky. It looked like a work of art, not something you'd expect to just _see_, up in the sky. "I'll take that as a yes." He said when she didn't answer.

"All the way to the horizon?" She asked as they started on their way.

"It's not as far off as it looks." He said. "Just appreciate your surroundings. This is what Earth will become." He ducked under a branch. "What do you think?"

"Well...it's almost like nothing lived here at all. When I pictured the Earth after humans left it, I always pictured it in ruins. It seemed like we were on our way to destroying it, what with all the pollution and infrastructure and technology. You know?" She looked up at him, hoping he'd agree, but he just shrugged.

They walked a few minutes in silence, and she drunk in everything around her. They were no doubt in what used to be a forest. By the looks of it, it had once been green and luscious. Now, though, it looked like the trees did in the winter, when they were nothing but trunks and branches. The only difference was that there were no leaves on the ground, or no snow on the trees. It was odd seeing such barren trees in an environment that wasn't cold. She knew it was because they were in an environment that made it impossible for nature to prosper, but it felt like the seasons were backwards, like an alternate universe or something.

"What are you thinking?" The Doctor asked her. She hadn't realised they'd been silent for so long.

"About how strange it is seeing trees with no leaves even though it's not winter. Also how crazy you are." She added.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"I'm not crazy!"

"Yes, you are." Hermione laughed, looking up ahead. They were almost out of the forest, and then they'd be going up a steep hill.

"How do you figure?" He challenged. "Actually, never mind. Don't answer that, you're right. I'm crazy." He lifted his hands in defeat. She said nothing, just stared ahead as they walked uphill. "You alright?" He asked, and she was surprised to feel his hand come in contact with her shoulder, and even more surprised to feel the tingles is sent shooting down her spine.

"I'm fine, I'm...better than fine. It's just so...hard to believe." She said.

"Ha! I knew you'd be impressed with me." He grinned proudly.

"Well...I guess, for once, you were right." She smirked at him and pushed ahead.

"Hey! I'm always right, it just took you this long to admit it." He argued, running after her. "Slow down!" He demanded, but she only sped up.

"Race you!"

"You don't even know where we're going!" He called from behind her.

"Better run faster then!" She tantalized.

"You...!" He sped up and eventually caught up with her. When he did, he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her toward him.

"Cheater!" She spun around and pushed him off, but it hardly fazed him. Eventually, they both stopped and collapsed on the ground, laughing and struggling for air.

"You're a little devil." He said when he'd caught his breath.

"At least I'm not an alien."

"Who says I'm the alien? To me, you're the alien." They stared at each other for a few more seconds, and then he stood up. "Right. See that field up there? That's where we're going. Race you there." He beamed.

"You're on," Hermione said, an idea coming to her.

"Good," He said, bracing himself. She did the same. "On your marks..."

"Get set..." She started thinking really hard about the field and what it looked like.

"Go!" He raced off, but she didn't move. She gave him a few seconds head start, then shut her eyes and spun around. When she opened them again, she was at their destination, but he was only halfway there. She smiled to herself and sat in the field, waiting for him.

When he caught up, he was breathless and wide-eyed. "How did you...what was..." He stared at her dubiously.

"I apparated." She answered.

"What the hell is that?" He stipulated. She paused, considering her answer.

"Illegal." She finally said.

"Oh! Oh, I see how it is. Little Miss Genius is also a criminal, huh? Well, if you're not careful, Missy, I'll arrest you inside my _police_ box!" His eyes were wide and confused.

"I'll let you win the next race, if that's what you're sore about." She giggled. He exhaled and sat next to her.

"I let you do that."

"I know you did." She smiled at his defensive face, like a child who'd lost a game of chess and was now claiming he'd _let_ his sister win in order to be a gentleman, even though she was clearly the superior player.

"So, what do you think of the view?" He changed the subject, pointing ahead at that sky.

It was something no other human could say they'd seen, except on TV. There was hardly any black space visible. There was a streak of light across the entire sky, with pinks and oranges and browns and greens. If you squinted, you could almost imagine it to be a sunset, but it was perpendicular, instead of parallel, to the horizon. It looked like a tornado of a galaxy. It thinned out around the edges, the way an illuminated wand was really bright at the tip and then let the light spread out around it. There were specks of colour littered throughout the sky. Off to the side of the streak of lights was another, that looked like it had been twisted around itself and was now a swirling conglomeration of lights, with colours orange and white twisted together. This too let off light rays on its sides, the way the other one did. The two met and looked like waves of opposite directions meeting in the middle.

"It looks like a Van Gough painting." She finally said.

Everything around them seemed to exist only in silhouettes against the bright sky. Up ahead of them were yet more mountainous ranges that looked like black paint on top of all the beautiful colours. Even when she looked over at the Doctor, it was hard to see anything but a silhouette.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" He said softly, also staring out mystically.

"That's an understatement." She whispered. He nodded slowly in agreement.

"One of the reasons I like it here," He began, speaking lowly. "Because it's impossible for any living creature to be here. Except us, but we have the TARDIS. There's no chance of anything going terribly wrong. It's just...serene and tranquil." He said. She nodded in agreement.

"Andromeda, isn't it?" She confirmed, staring out at the sky. "This is when the Milky Way and Andromeda become one galaxy."

"Very good..." He expressed. "The Milky Way is practically right in the middle of Andromeda, now, hence...the view." He gestured out toward the skies. "Technically, there's no Milky Way or Andromeda anymore, they've fused together as one."

"If only there were someone left to give it a name," She pontificated. The Doctor's eyes lit up.

"Well, we're here! We can name it. How about...Milky Andromeda?" He offered. Hermione made a face.

"No, that's awful. Andromeda Way?" She suggested.

"Hmm..." He pondered for a second. "Yeah, I like that. Andromeda Way..." He said mystically.

"You know, I wasn't lying. When I said I hadn't forgotten about you over these past three years." Hermione said, lying back in the grass.

"Yeah?" He asked, leaning back next to her.

"I actually remained really curious. I wasn't going to admit this, but I did a lot of...research on you."

"You mean you stalked me?"

"No!" She immediately replied, defensively. "I just looked you up."

"You stalked me."

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Well, if you're going to be like _that_ then I'm not going to tell you what I found." She said stubbornly.

"Okay, okay, fine. What did you find on me?" He said, coming up onto his elbow and facing her. "Hang on, where did you look?"

"In the library, of course. There wasn't much," She raised herself onto her elbow as well, so she was level with him. "But I did find references to you in one book."

"You have my full attention."

"It was about the Founders of Hogwarts. You know, the school I go to," she clarified. She pursed her lips, pondering how to explain what she found. "All four of them wrote about a mysterious man who only disclosed the name 'Doctor', and a young girl he was travelling with,"

"Really..." He sounded fascinated.

"It never mentioned the girl's named, but apparently she and the Doctor saved Helga Hufflepuff's life."

"So I'm a hero then!" He said, falling back onto his back. Hermione rolled over onto her stomach and supported herself with both elbows.

"I suppose... Gryffindor wrote the most. Apparently he was enticed by the girl and always hoped she'd come back, but she never did." She was quiet for a moment, watching his expression. "Interesting, huh?"

"Yeah. Especially since...I haven't done any of that yet."

"What?" She asked, rolling back over onto her back and looking up at the incredible sky again.

"Well, it hasn't happened yet. Well, not exactly," he contradicted himself. "It has happened. Just not for me. The time stream of life on earth and my personal time stream are really out of synch."

"I see." She said, even though she didn't.

"But hey, I'm sure it'll happen eventually! Maybe you were even the girl they were talking about!" He suggested.

"I doubt it...I can't travel with you like this forever, I've got to get back for exams."

"Hermione, you're in a _time machine_. Don't worry about your stupid exams." He sat up and she followed his example. "I'm just saying. It's possible you're the girl they mentioned. Since it hasn't happened yet, it can't be any of my previous companions, and you're also a witch, so I'd be more likely to take you to meet Gryffindin or whoever." He theorized. Hermione burst out laughing. "What?" He demanded.

"_Gryffindin_?" She asked incredulously.

"Don't laugh at me because I can't remember your fancy wizard names!"

"Gryffin_dor_." She corrected, but he just waved it off.

"Whatever."

"Oh, grow up." She uprooted some grass and threw it at him.

"Oi! Hey, what are you, twelve?!" He demanded, gathering the grass off him in a mock-pompous way and then throwing it back at her. She swatted the grass away, smiling, but didn't throw any back at him.

"Show me some magic." He said suddenly. She looked over at him.

"What?"

"Please? Defy gravity or something." He grinned, and she couldn't keep a sly smile off her face. _Defy gravity_...of course. She took her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at the ground.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" She chanted, and every individual piece of grass they'd uprooted and thrown at each other glided upward, resistant of gravity.

"Amazing." He breathed, watching her. She let the grass hover around them.

"Yeah, because I'm the one with a spaceship and screwdriver that holds all the answers,"

He laughed. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do." She let the floating, defiant-of-gravity grass fall back on to the ground.

"Well!" He stood up, changing the subject. "Now that I've officially jinxed this place, maybe we best be off,"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, though making no movements to stand up.

"Remember? I said there's nothing ever dangerous here."

"Because it's impossible for living creatures to thrive here, yeah."

"Well..." He sat up. "The thing with me is that I sort of attract danger, so now that I've _said_ that nothing can go wrong, something is bound to go wrong. So we should probably leave before something comes out and tries to eat us." He explained, speaking in a very matter-of-fact manner, like this was all perfectly logical.

"Whatever you say." Was her response, though she was a little disappointed to be leaving already. When she stood up and they turned around, the TARDIS was standing right behind them.

"Hello!" The Doctor said, beaming. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"How did it get here? We left it all the way back there," She pointed. He shrugged, unlocking the doors.

"It's magical, like I told you." He said nonchalantly, shrugging and entering the TARDIS. She followed him. When he reached the central console, he rounded on her. "So?!" He demanded. She stared at him. "What did you _think_? On a scale from mind-blowing to marvellous?"

She laughed at his confidence. "Stunning."

"Huh? That wasn't one of the options!"

"Was too. You said it was on a scale from mind-blowing to marvellous. Stunning falls within those categories, wouldn't you say?"

"Right. Well," He began working the controls of the TARDIS. "What do you say, then? One more adventure?" He ginned at her, his fingers encased around the lever, ready to slam it down. "I still admire your gut."

Hermione looked down before returning her gaze to him, abandoning her pride. "I'd love that."

A slow grin crept up on his face. "Good. So, what do you know about dinosaurs?"

"What?"

"Oh come on! You know everything, so tell me. What do you know about them?" The smirk written all over his face made her feel like he was testing her, and she wasn't about to let him win, so she took a deep breath and let out all her knowledge.

"The dinosaur age is split into three periods - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Geologists originally marked out these periods to distinguish among various types of geologic strata, but since dinosaur fossils are usually found embedded in rock, palaeontologists associate dinosaurs with the geologic period in which they lived," She paused for dramatic effect.

"Go on..." The Doctor coaxed.

"There are several theories for how and why they went extinct, the most widely accepted being that an asteroid about 6 miles wide travelling at around 45,000 miles per hour fell onto the Yucatan Peninsula, leaving an approximately 110 mile long crater, and releasing as much as 100 trillion tons of TNT, more than a billion times more than the atom bombs that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki." She tilted her head to the side and smirked.

"That all you got?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's been estimated that the impact would have set off a nuclear winter scenario, meaning the amount of moisture and dust thrown into the atmosphere would have shut out all sunlight, resulting in the death of all photosynthetic organisms, which would have caused all the herbivorous dinosaurs to die off, which would have, in turn, killed the carnivorous dinosaurs that fed on the herbivorous dinosaurs..."

"Impressive. Not as impressive as me, of course, but still. Not bad."

"Thank you?"

"Anytime! So! I'll tell you something I bet you _didn't_ know."

"And that would be?"

He flicked his eyebrows up, slammed down the lever, and then grabbed the handle for support.

"I'd rather show you!" He shouted over the sound of the flying TARDIS.

When they came to an abrupt stop, he stared at her with a proud grin on his face.

"Where are we now, then?" She asked, slightly tentative at the idea that they were about to walk out into a place where dinosaurs thrived.

"Well, _technically_, we haven't moved in space at all. We're in the exact same spot as we were before, only..." His voiced trailed off, inviting her to finish his sentence.

"65 million years ago, before dinosaurs went extinct."

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "_No_, haven't we been through this?! Time is relative. Past and future, it's all relative. We've gone 65 million years into _your _past, but technically, we've gone 4 billion and 65 million years into _the _past, speaking from where we just came."

"Okay." She said quickly with wide eyes.

"God, I thought you were a genius."

"And who gave you that crazy idea?"

He smirked. "A little birdie told me." He stared at her with an adolescent grin. "So, let's go meet some dinosaurs."


	3. Dino-Soaring

"Are you _crazy_?" She protested as he dragged her to the doors.

"Of course not! They won't bite! They're quite friendly, actually. Just stay away from the ones that...er, might actually bite." He pulled her outside to reveal a scene quite un-extraordinary.

All around them was a dense, green forest. The sunlight shone through the trees and illuminated them and their and branches. Altogether, it had a very peaceful, normal look about it. It'd be impossible to tell how far back in time they'd gone, and there wasn't a dinosaur in sight.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Looks...pretty normal." She replied, staring around at all the greenery.

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "What, you think just because we've gone back in time everything would look different? It's still the same planet, Hermione."

"I know, I just sort of expected a bit more..." She pondered her response, not knowing how actually to finish that sentence. "I don't know, scary stuff. Dinosaurs are always depicted as these terrifying beasts. To some extent supernatural."

"So you were expecting fog, dark, skeletal woods, darkness, maybe a vampire or two?" He smirked and raised his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, _no_, obviously not, but-"

"Well don't say it like it's a ridiculous expectation! I mean, I've come across a few vampires in my time, so no need to rule anything out." He started walking further outside. "I guess this birdie that told me you were a genius hadn't really done his research,"

"Even geniuses have blonde moments." She replied snarkily. As they walked outside, the heavy air weighed down on her. It was hot and humid.

"Ouch."

"What? You're not blonde!"

"No, but I am a fan of them..." For a split second, all traces of immaturity vanished from his face as they continued venturing through the not-scary-at-all woods.

"Sorry."

"No worries! So how do you like Earth 65 million years ago?"

"I thought this was 4 billion and 65 million years ago? I mean really, Doctor, time is relative."

He beamed. "Good answer. Let's have a picnic and watch the sunset." He stopped walking. They had reached the edge of the forest and were facing a large, grass field that stretched to the horizon. He pulled out a red and white checkered cotton blanket from one of his jacket pockets and laid it out in front of them.

"Where did _that_ come from?" She asked curiously as he sat down and gestured for her to sit beside him.

"My pocket." He said, this time reaching in and pulling out a small picnic basket. She stared at him for a few more seconds in disbelief before realisation dawned on her face.

"Ah...bigger on the inside."

"Your genius status has been restored."

"Oh, thank God." She faux-laughed as she sat next to him and leaned up against a tree behind her. "Is the basket bigger on the inside too?"

He grinned. "You got me." He opened it and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two flutes. He filled one up and handed it to her, then filled his.

"So...we're literally sitting here outside of a forest from 65 million years into my past, drinking champagne and waiting for a dinosaur to come around."

"Yeah. No biggie."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." They clinked their flutes together and drank.

It was already starting to get darker as the sun went down in front of them. Everything in sight had turned to a silhouette against the orange-pink sky. It was just as would have looked if she'd been home, so she could almost forget that she was sitting on her planet from 65 million years ago. As the sun descended, so did the temperature, but not by much. It still felt hot and muggy to her.

There was nothing abnormal about anything they were doing or anything around them. Everything around them screamed normal, peaceful night out with a friend.

That is, until a dinosaur showed up.

"Where?" Hermione asked urgently when he pointed it out, looking around them frantically.

"There. On the horizon." He pointed ahead of them. Against the setting sun, there was a silhouetted dinosaur. Even from a distance it was massive.

"What kind is it?" She asked.

"You're the genius, you tell me!"

"I don't know! Triceratops? It's sort of got that shape..."

"Right you are! Genius status maintained." He stood up, put the flutes and champagne bottle back in the bigger-on-the-inside picnic basket, and then the basket and blanket back in his bigger-on-the-inside pocket. "Let's go test its limits."

"Are you _crazy_?!" Hermione shrieked as they began trudging toward the horizon. Toward the dinosaur.

"That's at least the second time you've asked me that."

"Then this is at least the second time you haven't answered, leading me to believe that you are, in fact, crazy."

"It's the end of the Cretaceous period," He said, ignoring her last comment. "65 million years into your past. And...that triceratops over there just experienced her last sunset."

"You mean this is the day that...the asteroid hit?"

"I mean this is the day the asteroid _will_ hit. You know for someone as smart as you, you should really get your tenses straight."

"Funny."

"I certainly like to think so."

"You know we'll die if we stay here..."

He shrugged it off, as if to say it was a matter of no real importance to him.

"We won't die," He said as he began walking toward the Triceratops. "At least not right away. See, we're far enough away from the collision point that it won't sweep us off our feet or incinerate us, but we'll still get to be a part of all the action."

"You say it like it's a choose-your-own-adventure book..."

"You could think of it that way." He stopped in his tracks and stared straight ahead. "Look at that..." He whispered in awe. On the edge of the forest, not 10 feet away from the triceratops, was a tyrannosaurus rex. "That is _beautiful_..."

"And just a little bit terrifying." Hermione added, watching anxiously.

"Ah, don't worry. Most scientists seem to think they were slow and stupid. There's actually some debate on whether they were really the fearsome hunters everyone made them out to be, or cowardly scavengers, who just fed on already dead prey."

"Looks like we're about to find out." She uttered in disbelief.

The T-Rex was behind the Triceratops, moving slowly and stealthily.

"Hunter. Definitely hunter." The Doctor theorized, gazing as the T-Rex charged at the Triceratops. If that was his top speed, it was indeed very slow. He rammed his head into the Triceratops, and Hermione couldn't help but wince.

"Ouch..."

"Oohh, and the Triceratops teeters, just a bit, but keeps her ground! Oh! She looks _angry_ now, Rexxy better look out..."

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Narrating."

"Why?"

"Oh come on, live a little!" He paused to watch the play of events unfold before them. "Oh...oh, Tricey manages to stay up, and wheels her own head in attempt at self defense! Oh, wouldn't want to be hit by those horns, now, that looked like it hurt...Rexxy manages to _juuust_ dodge the bullet there, and lunges for Tricey's throat, but...oh, oh, he _misses! _Collides with her _massive_ frill instead..."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle. His narration of the event sounded like something of a Quidditch match.

"Personally, I'm routing for Tricey here. Always did like an underdog," He pondered. "Ah, looks like _that_ collision has them _both_ falling to the ground! And with a deafening roar, they're down! Come on Tricey, you got it..."

"You know, under the circumstances, I'd say Rexxy is the underdog. Considering how slow and stupid you seemed to think he was just a moment ago."

Both dinosaurs seemed to have trouble getting back up off the ground, which made sense considering they both weighed several tons.

"Looks like Rexxy's really down for the count! Oh, look at those tiny arms, requiring just a few extra seconds to get back on his feet...the battle hangs by a thread...who will get up first? Will it be Tricey, to scamper off, or Rexxy, to lunge in for the kill?" He lowered his voice dramatically. "And the winner is...is...Tricey! Nicely done, if I do say so myself..."

Once the T-Rex had gotten back up and shaken itself off, he started walking off in the other direction. The Doctor elbowed her, and she looked his way.

"What?"

"Let's follow it."

"_What_? Why?"

"We're here for an adventure, not to play it safe! Come _on_!" He grasped her hand and led her after the T-Rex.

"I really don't think following an irritated T-Rex is the best idea."

"No, you're absolutely right. That's why we're doing it."

They followed the T-Rex back into the not-scary-at-all woods, though it was slight more scary now that there was a multi-ton beast in front of them. After a minute, the dinosaur stopped, but the Doctor didn't. He got closer, and as they did, Hermione saw that the massive creature was covered with feathers. It looked sort of like a Hippogriff, and she wondered what Hagrid would do if he were here. She smiled, picturing him fan-girling over all these dinosaurs and trying to get as close as possible.

When they were less than 50 feet from the T-Rex, the Doctor finally stopped. He stared in front of them in awe. "It's..._beautiful_..." He whispered in admiration. "Don't you think so?"

"I'm not sure _beautiful_ is the adjective I'd use...but for all intents and purposes, yeah, I suppose so..." She spoke slowly, trepidation etched in her every syllable. She was terrified, and her heart was pounding in her chest, and yet the creature before her mesmerized her.

"Uh...uh oh..." The Doctor said, slowly coming out of his trance.

"Uh oh? What uh oh?" Her voice rose with her anxiety.

"I...think it realized we're here."

Hermione swore.

"No, it's okay! Yeah...nice T-Rexxy, aren't you?"

"Doctor!"

"You won't eat us, will you? No, of course you won't..." Unbelievably, he reached a hand up, as though a peace offering. He was offering to peace to a _tyrannosaurus rex_.

"Doctor..."

The T-Rex turned toward them, slowly. She could hear him inhale, and could practically sense the change that came over his demeanor as he realized what was almost directly underneath him.

"I think...we should..." He started, slowly turning away from the T-Rex.

"Run?" She suggested in a high-pitched voice.

"Yeah."

The T-Rex let out a deafening roar, and she could feel its hot breath on her back, blwoing her hair in her face as she ran. It made her think of 4th year, when Harry battled the dragon that continually attempted to barbeque him.

"Keep running!" He screamed over the pounding footsteps.

"As if I'd do anything else under these circumstances!" She shrieked back.

"WE ARE IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION HERE AND YOU FIND TIME TO SASS ME?"

"And you find time to provide commentary on it! You're just as bad!"

Out of breath, they both ran. They were considerably further ahead than the T-Rex, but he was so much bigger and more ferocious that he intimidated them enough to sprint the other direction regardless. If they stopped for more than a few seconds, he'd gain on them, and then probably swallow them both whole. She didn't really feel like coming to her death by drowning in the stomach acid of a monster that went extinct 65 million years ago.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" She screamed over the pounding footsteps of the monster behind them and the ferocious pounding of her heart. "THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO!"

"UP!" He shouted.

"WHAT?!"

"UP!" He screeched louder.

"DOCTOR, JUST BECAUSE I'M WITCH DOESN'T MEAN I CAN FLY, AND IT'S INCREDIBLY STERIOTYPICAL OF YOU TO THINK SO!"

"NO! NOT _UP_!I FORGET WHAT YOU CALLED IT...UP...RATE..."

"APPARATE!" She screamed, realizing what he was trying to say. She closed her eyes and thought of a place as far away from the Yucatan Peninsula as one could get on Earth. She sped up until she was just in front of the Doctor, turned around, grabbing onto his waistcoat as she did so, and spun into space. She felt the familiar crushing, claustrophobic, choking sensation until they both landed in a shallow swamp with a slash and sat there trying to catch their breath. They were sitting in what was like a small pond, but the water was thick and cold and felt slimy. Entangled all around them were greenish-brown weeds and moss that smelled less than pleasant.

"Augh." The Doctor said as the both were showered in mud. He looked over at her. "Really? You couldn't have magically transported us, like, two feet to the left? You landed us right in the middle of a swamp."

"No, really? I thought we'd landed in a field of daisies and sunshine." She rolled her eyes and pulled her wand out, siphoning all the mud off with a lazy flick until they were both warm and dry again.

"You're quite mean sometimes, you know that?" He simpered in a faux-offended voice. They stood up, almost completely soaked, and stepped away from all the mud.

"Yes. But without my magic, you'd be screwed, so I'd watch what you say to me." She smirked and stared up at him through her lashes.

"Screwed, huh?" He challenged, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yes. Screwed. I could've left you covered in all that mud, and only used the magic to help myself. Or I could've _not_ apparated us away from the T-Rex and let him eat both of us."

"But you would never do something like that." He said in an undertone, a teasing expression painted across his face.

"Try me one of these days, and we'll see." She shot back flirtatiously.

"Oh, grow _up_." He said it with so much immaturity in his voice that it made the whole statement ironic. She giggled. He narrowed his eyes and reached forward, dipping his hand into the goopy swamp in front of them. He held his hand in between them for a few moments, then flicked the water onto her face. She flinched, scrunching up her face in disgust as her jaw dropped with resentment.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, wiping her eyes.

"Hey me?" Hey you!" He crossed his arms and turned up his nose like a haughty preschooler.

"Hey YOU!" She scooped some of the mud off the bottom of the swamp floor and wiped it across his coat.

"You know you're acting like a five year old right now." He put his hands on his hips and shook his head like a child trying to pretend to be angry.

"You started it!" She shot back defensively.

"Did not!"

"Did _so_."

"I did _not_." He stomped into the middle of the swamp and jumped up and down several times, splashing her with all the mud and water.

"Did."

"Didn't." He narrowed his eyes childishly. She crouched down, using her arms to splash a wave of the slimy, muddy water onto him. "That's cheating!" He burst out, throwing his arms down stubbornly.

"Oh, now there's rules, are there?" She sneered, brushing some moss off her shoulder. He scoffed, reaching into the water and pulling out a gob of entangled, greenish-brown weeds and moss encased with a thick layer of slime and riddled with mud. He held it in front of her for a few moments, a tantalizing grin playing across his lips. He squeezed it, allowing the muddy, slimy water to drip down her shirt. It felt cold and squirmy...the water dripped down her front like worm.

"Ew..." She whimpered. She pried some of the stringy moss out of his hands and draped it across his coat.

"Ew." He imitated. He sounded like a valley-girl. She giggled. He smiled and cast her an admiring look, though she couldn't quite tell if it was meant to look complimentary or just immaturely playful. She smiled tentatively back and giggled more.

He stepped out of the swamp onto the grass around it, pulling her with him, but they both slipped and fell onto a patch of mud just in front of the swamp. She stuck her hand out to break her fall and slipped onto her forearm, covering the whole thing in mud. She sat up and smeared the mud from her hand onto his cheek.

"Hey!" He snapped in an adolescent tone.

"Hey me?" She asked innocently. "Hey _you_." She squinted at him through eyes with an evil sparkle behind their smile.

"Demon!" He rubbed his hand in the mud patch they both sat in and then smudged it across her nose and under her eyes. She laughed and swatted his hand away. He stared at her with a stoic expression on his face, but after a few seconds, he burst out giggling. He sounded like a cheerleader, which only made her laugh harder. The more she laughed, the more he laughed, and soon she was laying on her back in the patch of mud next to him, both in a hysterical fit of laughter. She raised her want in an attempt to dry them both off, but only managed to get half of it off through all her giggles. He sat up and picked a piece of moss off her shoulder. His temperate touch sent shivers racing down her spine, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was his hand or just the fact that it was cold and dark outside. She figured it was probably just the weather. She brushed his hand away and raised her wand again, this time getting the spell right.

"Thanks!" He said, jumping up and offering her his hand. She took it and stood up, but he didn't let go once she was standing, but let their hands stay clasped together.

"Anytime." She whispered. The moonlight shining around them lit everything up in very low light and made him look so much younger.

"Would you look at that..." He said mystically, pointing above them. When she looked, there was a large dinosaur soaring above them. He giggled. "It's dino-soaring. Get it?"

"You can't be serious."

He let go of her hand and looked up at the sky again. "It's defying gravity..."

"Actually, when birds are soaring like that, its wings push air down, so according to Newton's third law, the air pushes the wings up. The push comes in part from what angle the wings are held at and partly from the curvature of the wings. The air travels faster above the bird's wing than it does below, and this makes the pressure lower above the wing-"

"_You_ can't be serious."

She crossed her arms and scoffed. "It's _true_! And it's also different when birds are _flapping _their wings, because-"

"Look..." He cut her off and pointed to the sky.

"Oh my god..." She breathed, staring at where his hand gestured. "Is that the...?"

"Yes..." He exhaled, gawking at it as though in a trance.

Streaking across the sky was an asteroid. Its tail was long and thin and colorful, and the tip, the asteroid, was shining bright white and let off a glow all around it that made the shining moon look dull.

It was hard to tell whether it was stock still in the middle of the sky or whether it was flying across the cosmos at unimaginable speeds. It appeared to be doing both at the same time, though she knew it was going approximately 45,000 miles per hour.

It was impossible to tell when it hit the Earth as a result of the light rays reaching them before the distant yet definitely present sound, like an out-of-synch special effect in a muggle movie.


End file.
